Cassell delivers in fourth quarter; Celtics keep Hawks from clinching

Published: Sunday, April 13, 2008

ATLANTA - Sam Cassell and Boston's backups outplayed Atlanta's starters in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics prevented the Hawks from clinching their first playoff berth since 1999 with a 99-89 victory Saturday night.

Atlanta would have ended the NBA's longest playoff drought with a victory, because Indiana lost to Charlotte earlier Saturday. The Hawks remained two games ahead of the Pacers with two to play, lowering their magic number to one for the right to face the Celtics in a first-round series.

The Hawks led 84-78 after two 3-pointers by Mike Bibby, but Cassell scored 20 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics outscored the Hawks 21-5 down the stretch.

Kevin Garnett sat out the fourth quarter but led Boston with 24 points. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen each had 14.

Rivers said before the game the Hawks "wouldn't be an easy series. They're athletic as heck."

The Hawks' top athletes, including Smith and Horford, played up to Rivers' billing as they rallied from a 55-44 halftime deficit.

Horford and Smith combined for 23 points as the Hawks outscored the Celtics 30-19 in the third period.

The Celtics gave the Hawks their best - at least for three periods. Garnett, Allen and Pierce each played fewer than 25 minutes in Boston's 102-86 win over Milwaukee on Friday night, but the three passed that mark in the third quarter against Atlanta before the backups took over.

The Pacers entered the night two games behind Atlanta with three games to play. With the loss and Atlanta's loss to Boston, the Pacers need to win their last two and have the Hawks lose their final two to get into the playoffs.

Indiana's Danny Granger scored a career-high 37 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter while playing with five fouls. Mike Dunleavy added 22 points and seven assists for Indiana, which saw its winning streak end at four games.

Nazr Mohammed had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Emeka Okafor had 14 points and 18 rebounds and rookie Jared Dudley scored a career-high 19 points for the Bobcats, who outrebounded the Pacers 59-46.

The victory means the Wizards can finish no worse than sixth in the Eastern Conference, and that they can't be caught by the 76ers. Washington leads Philadelphia by two games with two to play and owns the tiebreaker due to a better conference record.

Antawn Jamison added 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who have won four of five. Washington bounced back well from a 102-74 loss at Detroit on Friday night.

Andre Iguodala had 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead the 76ers, who have lost three of four. Philadelphia had a 28-6 advantage in fast-break points but was outrebounded 48-36.

 Timberwolves 114

Grizzlies 105

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Kirk Snyder had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Al Jefferson added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-105 on Saturday night in a game between two of the NBA's worst teams.

Ryan Gomes finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Rashad McCants led Minnesota with 23 points and Randy Foye scored 16. Snyder's rebounding total was a career high.

With Seattle owning the only worse record than these teams in the Western Conference, this game was mostly about lottery positioning.

The Timberwolves built the lead to as many as 18 early in the game and really were never threatened in the second half of their second victory in two nights. Part of the reason was Minnesota's dominance in the middle, as the Timberwolves outrebounded Memphis 62-45 and held a 60-44 advantage in the paint.

Memphis, playing its last home game of the season, went deep into its bench early. In the first quarter, little-used players such as Kwame Brown, Brian Cardinal and Casey Jacobsen already had made an appearance, and center Andre Brown started his first game of the season.

The result: The Timberwolves shot 63 percent and built a 43-25 lead at the first break, marking the most first-quarter points scored by Minnesota this season. The early rebound advantage was 20-10 for the Timberwolves, and Memphis was hitting only a third of its shots.